Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [51378426, 50978220]; Program of Ministry of Education of China for New Century Excellent Talents [NCET-11-0714]; Training Program for Excellent Youth Academic Leaders of Sichuan Province [2010A14-449]; National Science & Technology Pillar Program [2013BAJ03B04]

机构署名：

本校为第一且通讯机构

院系归属：

机械工程学院

摘要：

Fatty acids as phase change materials have attracted much attention for their various applications in building energy efficiency, solar heating systems and air-conditioning systems. After summarizing the basic characteristics of fatty acids, eutectic mixtures of fatty acids and fatty acid esters, as well as the preparation and characteristics of fatty acid composites as phase change materials (PCMs), this paper analyzes the thermal reliability and stability of fatty acids as PCMs and their heat transfer characteristics in a unit which is followed by an introduction to the energy storage systems of three kinds of fatty acids as PCMs. Besides, it also points out the future research direction of fatty acids as PCMs as a solution of the insufficiency and flaws of current researches. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.